GLP-1 Drugs Delay Alcohol’s Effects!

GLP-1 drugs were designed as antidiabetic drugs, and took over the market as weight loss drugs.

Their usefulness to reduce cravings has been noted to also reduce non-food cravings, including for some addictive substances, and some compulsive behaviors.

See: Can a drug like Ozempic help treat addictions to alcohol, opioids or other substances?

But, there’s more to it than that…

It’s not just about drinking less

Researchers (Dr. Alexandra DiFeliceantonio et al.) have found that GLP-1 agonists such as semaglutide, tirzepatide, and liraglutide slow the rate at which alcohol enters the bloodstream, resulting in delayed (and weaker) intoxicating effects.

What they tested: in a randomized controlled trial, all participants fasted, ate a standardized snack, then consumed an alcoholic drink within 10 minutes. Breath alcohol, glucose, blood pressure, and pulse were then measured repeatedly over the next four hours.

What they found is that those on GLP-1 drugs had slower increases in breath alcohol concentration and consistently reported feeling less intoxicated than those not taking such.

How it works: the current hypothesis is that GLP-1 drugs likely reduce alcohol’s effects by slowing gastric emptying, delaying alcohol absorption, rather than directly affecting the brain. Because alcohol will then still be processed by the liver, it simply means the liver can process it little by little.

This is important, because it means that (so far as the data so far can tell us) it doesn’t run into the same problem as occurs when people take cannabis edibles, think “hmm, I don’t feel it”, and then take more, and then end up overdosing, because everything was just delayed batch-by-batch, rather than slowed down in a continuous process.

You can find the paper itself here: A preliminary study of the physiological and perceptual effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists during alcohol consumption in people with obesity

You may be thinking: “with obesity? Isn’t that protective against alcohol’s effects?”, and the answer is that in the case of adiposity (as opposed to being muscular) there’s a mixed effect that cancels itself out rather; yes, alcohol has a per-kg effect, but a kg of muscle is a lot more helpful metabolically than a kg of fat, which is in most cases more of a metabolic problem than a solution. Still, it cannot be said with certainty that the conclusions will applicable to all people of all body types; more research will be needed to make a definitive declaration about that.

GLP-1 drugs can protect the liver in one more way, too

It’s also known that GLP-1 drugs lower liver levels of an enzyme known by the snappy name of Cyp2e1, which normally breaks alcohol down into acetaldehyde, the highly toxic metabolite responsible for much of alcohol’s liver damage.

You can read more about this, here: GLP-1 receptor agonism results in reduction in hepatic ethanol metabolism

Want to learn more?

Here’s an unusually balanced overview of GLP-1 drugs when it comes to many aspects of life, rather than providing a glowing report or a terrible condemnation:

Magic Pill – by Johann Hari

And if GLP-1 drugs aren’t your thing, then we cover some other approaches for those who wish to drink alcohol and minimize its harmful effects:

How To Make Drinking Less Harmful ← our main feature on such

Take care!